Moses Cordovero's Meditations for the Ten
Days of Repentance

It is necessary, during the ten days that constitute the days of repentance,
to focus one's thoughts, repair one's deeds and cleanse one's actions before
one's Creator and to return in penitence to God, for the general and for
the particular, before the tenth day arrives. And in order that all these
ten days be days of repentance, unite [each of] them with the 'root' that
is appropriate to it. [To achieve this one must] isolate oneself for set
periods each day and each night during these ten days, so that they should
all be devoted to repentance, which is the root of all [these] days. And
one should not sin on them, so as not to damage the essence of the days
themselves--God forbid.

It is known that these days are gates to repentance, [corresponding
to] the ten sefirot that are in Binah ('Understanding'),
when a person may enter one sefirah each day. There are ten days
[and] ten sefirot, and every day one should focus on entering one
sefirah,
and with it, open one of the supernal gates of repentance.

[Of course,] those who return throughout year and throughout their days
in repentance will surely have the gates of repentance opened for them.
Nevertheless, these days are really days of repentance, [repentance] that
is open [and available].

Therefore, when one is isolated each day, one should concentrate on
the sefirah that is part of that repentance that is open [and available],
and ascend day by day to Repentance [= Binah], through its gradations,
[moving] from below to above [as follows]:

Day 1: Malchut,
Day 2: Yesod,

Day 3: Hod,
Day 4: Netzach,

Day 5: Tif'eret,
Day 6: Gevurah,

Day 7: Hesed,
Day 8: Binah,

Day 9, the day before Yom Kippur: Hochmah,

Day 10, Yom Kippur itself, when Binah is attached to Keter
and Hochmah, and from there [to] Malchut [where] the transgressions
of Israel [enter] into the final point, mystically [described] as the whiteness
that makes white. [White is the colour of Mercy, depicted here as flowing
from Keter. The meaning is: Repentance, when raised to the level
of Hochmah & Keter, stimulates the flow of Mercy from
Keter
down to Malchut.]

Chart based on the text above, with my own interpretations
of the sefirot. (ForCordovero's interpretations, see his Tomer Devorah.
References to translations appear below.)

Day

Sefirah

Meaning

Symbolism

1 Rosh Hashanah

Malchut

Sovereignty

Giving & Receiving

2 Rosh Hashanah

Yesod

Foundation

Sexuality

3 Fast of Gedaliah

Hod

Majesty

Left leg, following

4

Netzach

Victory

Right leg, leading

5

Tif'eret

Beauty

Justice, balance

6

Gevurah

Strength

Left hand, judgment

7

Hesed

Lovingkindness

Right hand, unconditional acceptance

8

Binah

Understanding

Repentance

9

Hochmah

Wisdom

Our highest self

10 Yom Kippur

Keter

Crown

That which is beyond ourselves

Dates for the Days of Repentance 2000:
Day 1 (1st day of Rosh Hashanah) Saturday 30 September
Day 2 (2nd day of Rosh Hashanah) Sunday 1 October
Day 3 (Fast of Gedaliah) Monday 2 October
Day 4 Tuesday 3 October
Day 5 Wednesday 4 October
Day 6 Thursday 5 October
Day 7 Friday 6 October
Day 8 (Shabbat Shuvah) Saturday 7 October
Day 9 Sunday 8 October
Day 10 (Yom Kippur) Monday 9 October

Go back to the top of the pageRosh Hashanah is not only the New Year in its own right, of course,
but also the first of the Ten Days of Repentance, culminating in Yom Kippur,
the Day of Atonement. From ancient times, these days were meant to be a
time of deep personal reflection on our moral and spiritual achievements
and failures, and I would like to share with you some thoughts on one approach
to this reflection, among the many that Judaism has to offer.

Rabbi Moses Cordovero was one of the greatest Kabbalists of all times.
He lived in Safed, in the Galilee region of Israel in the 16th century,
and you can still visit his tomb there. He was the author of a number of
seminal works of Jewish spirituality and had enormous influence on later
generations of Jewish mystics, including the modern Hasidim.

One of his works is a commentary on the Yom Kippur service, and it is
from this book that the text above comes. To summarize it, Cordovero here
offers us a scheme for meditation during these ten days of repentance.
The scheme is based on the system of the Ten Sefirot, the Ten Emanations,
which are basic to kabbalistic thought.

The Ten Sefirot, may be thought of as energies or the receptacles for
energies that originate in God. Thus, they may be seen as aspects of God's
personality, as it were, or as a chain of being between the unknowable
God and this world. Now, it is usual to present them in these ways,
but there is another way to think about them, a way which does not require
you to believe that the sefirot are part of the basic building blocks
of the universe.

For many kabbalists, the Sefirot are also to be found within us, on
the principle, going back to Genesis, that human beings are made in God's
image. So, for example, in his little book Tomer Devorah, the
Palm Tree of Deborah, Cordovero urges his readers to perfect those
moral and spiritual aspects of themselves which are represented by the
Sefirot. But if you want to see what Cordovero would suggest for our meditation
during these Ten Days of Repentance, you will have to read the Palm
Tree of Deborah, which you may like to know has been translated into
English on at least 3 occasions that I know of. Details are also given
above.

But here are my suggested meditations for each of these ten days, based
on kabbalistic tradition, but with, I hope you will agree, a modern slant
that offers a new way of analysing and understanding ourselves. In traditional
literature, the sefirot are discussed and explored through a series
of interrelated images and symbols. I will be concentrating on those symbols
that relate to the human body, mind and spirit, and adding one or two of
my own, but I have greatly oversimplified the system in order to make it
more manageable for you.

It is also important to realise what Cordovero means when he speaks
of 'the Ten Sefirot that are in Binah'. Each sefirah is said to
contain the other ten, and each of those ten the other ten, and so on,
ad
infinitum. Fortunately, even the most advanced kabbalist usually only
deals with three of these levels, and Cordovero here only deals with two.
But what he is saying in effect is that the Ten Sefirot that he suggests
we meditate on during the Ten Days of Repentance should be thought of as
within Binah, because Binah, literally, Understanding, is
also known as Teshuvah, Repentance. Indeed, Understanding is an
important prerequisite for Repentance. So, each of the aspects of ourselves
that we are being asked to consider during these days has to viewed in
the light of repentance. The thoughts that come to us as we meditate on
these ten aspects of ourselves have to be channelled through, and shaped
by, our desire to repent, to cleanse ourselves and become better people.

So, let me share some thoughts on these sefirot with you:

Day 1 is, of course, the first day of Rosh Hashanah. The meditation
for today is concerned with Malchut, the lowest of the sefirot,
the one that acts as a bridge between the world of the sefirot and the
created universe. It therefore receives energies from the sefirot above
and transmits those energies on to the world below, and indeed, vice versa.
Malchut is our external personality. What sins have we committed
in our outward behaviour? Malchut represents receptivity. Have we
been too accepting of some things and not accepting enough of others?
Malchut
represents giving as well. Have we been generous enough in our dealings
with others, or not forthcoming enough?

Day 2 is the traditional second day of Rosh Hashanah, corresponding
to Yesod. Yesod represents our sexuality. Have we used our
sexuality as a weapon or for selfish ends? Or have we used it in a controlled
manner consonant with love and companionship, as well as creativity?

Day 3 is traditionally known as the Fast of Gedaliah. Hod, the
sefirah
for Day 3, corresponds to the left leg. If you are right-handed, as most
people are, then you are probably right-legged, as it were, as well. That
is, you probably lead with your right leg, and the left leg follows. In
that case, have we followed others blindly when we should have protested
or led in another direction? Or have we failed to follow our conscience
when we should have?

Day 4 corresponds to Netzach, the right leg. Have we always led
ourselves and others along the proper paths? Have we taken the lead when
we should have, or relinquished it gracefully when our time had passed?

Day 5 corresponds to Tif'eret, Beauty. Perhaps we have judged
others on their external beauty or lack of it, instead of looking for the
true beauty that lies beneath. Tif'eret is also about balance, particularly
the balance between love and strength. Have we led balanced life, or have
we been habitually inclined to be too loving, giving and forgiving, or
too repressed, ungenerous or unforgiving?

Day 6 corresponds to Gevurah, Strength. Have we always been strong
when we should have been? Gevurah is also known as Din, Judgment.
Have we been too judgmental of others and ourselves, condemning when we
should have been trying to understand?

Day 7 is connected with Hesed, Lovingkindness. Have we shown
our loving side enough in our dealings with others? Or have we been too
much involved with our Gevurah to demonstrate our Hesed?

Day 8 corresponds to the sefirah of Binah, Understanding,
which itself represents
Teshuvah, repentance. Is our repentance
sincere? Do we really understand what we have done, and how to avoid doing
it again?

Erev Yom Kippur, is Day 9 and is represented by the sefirah
of Hochmah, wisdom. This is our highest conscious self. Have we
used our God-given wisdom and intelligence for the best, for the benefit
of others, to seek out God and the right path? Have we always acted in
accordance with our highest principles?

And finally Day 10 is Yom Kippur itself. Now, the tenth sefirah as one
goes from the bottom to the top, is Keter, the Crown, but unlike
the other nine, this sefirah, on the human level, represents something
that is higher than our normal state of consciousness. Indeed, it is beyond
our ability to comprehend. And therefore Cordovero does not ask us to meditate
on it, because we could not. Instead, in somewhat cryptic language, he
asks us to mentally raise the lessons of repentance that we learned throughout
the previous nine days to Keter, to that highest level beyond what
we think we are capable of. If we can do so, he promises us that we will
be rewarded spiritually with an outpouring of mercy from on high, because
Keter
is the unalloyed mercy, mercy without judgment, the source of all true
mercy.

And if we become the recipients of this mercy, we may become a true
light to ourselves, and to others.